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guardian of destiny." (1232)
The next thing I know is that I am waking up on a mansion world with lots of kisses and hugs with my seraphim first on the agenda. After exchanging anecdotes on the theme of "Boy, we/I thought we would not make it", we generally wander around having a jolly good time until the axe falls and before a tribunal I go. Despite the reprieve of the non-attendance requirement at Judgment Day, the rest of the paradise ascent appears to be one court case after another. Although I am assured that the courts and tribunals up there "are very different from the more primitive and material activities of Urantia which bear corresponding names" (373) and that I can "depend upon being dealt with justly, even mercifully." I suspect that these tribunal appearances are where I learn to be "disappointment proof."
Jesus described in the parable of the talents (1916) what the process will involve, stating emphatically after telling the parable that, "In the next world you will be asked to give an account of the endowments and stewardships of this world. Whether inherent talents are few or many, a just and merciful reckoning must be faced. If endowments are used only in selfish pursuits and no thought is bestowed upon the higher duty of obtaining increased yield of the fruits of the spirit, as they are manifested in the ever-expanding service of men and the worship of God, such selfish stewards must accept the consequences of their deliberate choosing." (1918)
Of course the seraphic court advisers and helpers will be present, and it's their job "to see that all charges against mortal creatures are stated in justice and adjudicated in mercy." As my defendants their job is to be primarily mercy ministers, however this justice component worries me, for I am told that there is a decided restriction on their role which effectively is to be "the exponents and exemplification of the element of mercy inherent in divine justice--of fairness based on the knowledge of the underlying facts of personal motives and racial tendencies." (428) In other words, they can't have any case squashed because "justice demands the adjudication of every default in the climb towards divine perfection." (428) All they can do is sit through my painful experiences and, through tribunal/court action after court action mount their defense based on my "creature nature."
I find it somewhat unnerving to be given such a wealth of information about one court or tribunal or another all the way through the local and central universe. It's as if the revelators want to prepare me for a future of perpetual litigation, and it is little consolation to be told that "the higher you ascend in the universe, the more certain you are to be judged by those of your own kind." (487) It's like a juicy bone tossed to a toothless tiger.
Apparently there are a number that I am required to compulsorily attend due to myself being the focus of judgment and in addition there quite possibly will be a number of additional court actions expeditiously taken out to examine certain developmental traits undesirous of a progressive God child demonstrated by behavior which wreaks, or has the potential to, wreak havoc amongst the locals of the planet on which I currently have been let loose upon.
And so as I ignorantly trip my way through the Paradise ascent I prepare myself for the shudder of panic which will sweep me into reality as a Celestial Guardian saunters towards me carrying the decision of the prior tribunal and quite possibly a summons for the next at the same time (252)
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